Photo TR: Parc Asterix/Foire Du Trone/Jardin d'Acclimatation

Inferno Insane · May 11, 2005

1st TR on Here so injoy.

Just had a fantastic weekend in France, visiting Parc Asterix and Foire du Trone and Jardin d'Acclimatation with group I know in RCCGB/ECC.

Arrive at Parc Asterix and took free entry with our Tussauds Annual Pass, then walk to Zeus which already had 15mins queue. Finally got on near the back and set off. The layout look massive and 1st Drop was amazing and the speed, but when finish was'nt sure if its was a Meggie beater or not.

Next up was Goudurix. after everyone going on about the roughness ect I was dreading the worst, after getting into a walk-on queue on first go was prepareing for the worst bracin myself ect to get no headbang at all. Felt quite smooth also going through the inversions, but didn’t last long on the next 2 goes later one in the day. Getting a sore jaw and shoulders and many bangs.

Next up was Trace Du Hourra, a Mack Bobsled coaster, after being told its got many trims (can run up to 6 Trains) thought it be trim to death, but surprise to keep a good pace throughout and queue even thou long the first time kept moving .

Some others coasters we try were.

Vol D'Icare - not a bad coaster reminded me of the Hornet at Flambards.

Périférix - Bog standard Zierer - Tivoli - Medium. Nice flythrough the station on 2nd/3rd circuit.

Ronde des Rondins - a other Zierer - Tivoli - small. Not bad kid's coaster, Quite hard to find thou.

After one last ride on Zeus, it was closing time and headed off to the Foire du Trone. When we arrive was amaze by the size and what was there to offer.

First was Jamming a Barbisol spinning coaster, which was quite fun spinning up the lift hill bit rough in areas thou.

King - a Large Soquet coaster, a very wild ride with twisting drops, felt you were going to be flung out of your seat in some areas. shame about the uncomfortable seats.

Next was Free Dance an (KMG Afterburner) oh boy was this worth €3.50. Lasted for at least 8/10mins. No matter where you sat everyone got the highest point.

Then was mine Top Scan fix on Extreme which was worth €4, Which kick Samurai's ass (at Thorpe) its lasted for ages a good 8mins, got thrown everywhere. This is how a Top scan should Run (Not a Kids Ride Thorpe )

Then new thill ride I never done an Mondial Inferno, was quite a disorientating and thrilling and again lasted for ages.

To finish the fair off had a last ride on the Pirate Ship which I got told goes over 90°, sadly it didn’t when we rode :cry

Think I should stop there or I was blag on for ages.

Jardin d'Acclimatation will be posted soon. Injoy

Extreme (Top Scan) & Free Dance (KMG Afterburner)

King, Quite a rough travelin coaster

Jamming - a werid spinning coaster

Foire Du Trone

Home Time

Brace yourself. Evil Brake's

Zeus

The Mighty Zeus

Hey Stop Looking at Mine Pants!

Goudurix. Looks Great, Ride's Rough Owwww Mine Jaw!

Beware this Carpet is evil

Onride on Trace Du Hourra

YES, That's a Other train on the lift hill. Amazin how it can run up to 6 trains.

Trace Du Hourra

If the weight is distributed, Ready for a wild ride!

Oxygenarium

Parc Asterix

Shockwave · May 12, 2005

Crap! I'm going a week after the Foire Du Trone leaves! After looking at your report I'm really annoyed I'm gonna miss it!

WildMouse · May 12, 2005

I was one of those who joined Toby aka Inferno Insane in France last weekend. Like him, I had a great time out there! Here's a copy of my trip report. Kind of covers the same ground as Tobys.

We arrived at Parc Asterix at around 9:15 on the Saturday.

First ride of the day had to be on Tonnerre de Zeus, a 1997 CCI woodie which is located right near the back of the park. A steady queue had already started to form by the time we arrived there. But later 15 minutes I found myself sitting second from back for my first ever ride on the thing. Going up the lift hill I knew it was going to be something special, and it certainly was! The whole ride blew me away with its exhilarating first drop into a tunnel, plentiful airtime, crazy helixes and extensive layout. This is now my second favourite woodie after Balder. Whilst I love Megafobia, I felt that Tonnerre De Zeus beats it by miles. Opinion was mixed though, with some agreeing with me and some not. There was no doubt that each and every one of us loved it though.

Next up was Goudurix. After all the negative press I’d read and heard about this ride, I was expecting something truly dreadful! The first thing we were welcomed to was an empty queue line. The ride was virtually walk-on. There was a slight technical hitch, but this was sorted out within minutes, and before long I was ready for my maiden voyage (I was in the middle seats)! Once at the top of the lift hill, I was prepared for the worst. But what followed was a great coaster experience! Yes, you hear it right, the words ‘Goudurix’ and ‘great’ both in one sentence! I was surprised at how quickly the train navigated the inversions, one of them new to me (butterfly), and was also surprised how smoothly it travelled through them. No head banging whatsoever. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case on a re-ride later in the day where I ‘did’ get my ears boxed a few times!!! Still not enough to ruin the overall experience though.

Other rides ridden included:

Trace Du Hourra, a Mack Bobsled coaster, and a very good one at that. After being told it had trim breaks at several sections, I expected the ride to slow done considerably, but in actual fact it had a good pace throughout. The layout is extensive and very scenic. A 5 train operation meant minimum queues.

Vol D'Icare (Flight of Icarus) a Zierer Hornet was a good laugh. Flambards has a version which is almost identical. There was an insane Magic Carpet ride nearby which was the craziest one I’d ever been on. It was too brutal not to hold on, but was good fun all the same. Makes Quantum seem like a kiddie ride!

Oxygenarium is a cross between a raft ride and a water chute. Up to six of you sit in a rubber ring/raft type boat and are taken up a lift hill before descending an oversized water chute before hitting the bottom. If the weight is distributed well enough, your raft spins like crazy. It was such good ‘fun’ that we rode it twice in a row!

Transdemonium was a strange ride. It was a mix of fantasy ride and ghost train. I’m afraid I wasn’t impressed. None of us were really. I’m just glad that there wasn’t a queue!

Last ride of the day was front seat on Tonnerre de Zeus, and what a great way to end a great day. I will definitely head back to Parc Asterix at some stage in the near future.

In the evening we headed down to the Foire du Trone, which like most foreign fun fairs puts UK ones to shame. Highlights were:

King, a Soquet coaster which features several ‘out of your seat’ twisting drops and a grand final through a tunnel made up of the containers that the ride is transported in. All I can say is what a rush! Forget putting your hands in the air. You’ll be holding on for dear life most of the way round. You really do feel as though you are going to be flung out of your seat at certain moments! Shame the seats were so uncomfortable though.

Jamming is a Barbisol spinning coaster. It was slightly rough here and there but great fun, especially when spinning up the lift hill. We got four circuits which made up for the short track length.

Other rides worthy of a mention were the Top Buzz 1 which made Samurai seem even morel like a kiddie ride. Top Buzz 1 had a longer setting for a start and was actually ‘intense’!!!! The pods were spinning like crazy and my body was thrown all over the place! This is how all thrill rides should be. There was also a KMG Afterburner which blows Vortex at Thorpe out of the water. For a start there was enough spin to mean that you got a decent ride in every seat no matter where you sat. Then there was the ride setting. It went on for about 8 minutes or so which meant we really got our moneys worth. The final ride worthy of a mention was a Mondial Inferno (check out the picture update to see what it looks like) which was a great ride. It was disorientating and thrilling, yet not so much so that it was nauseating.

Just have to say that there was so much to choose from ride wise, but it would have cost a fortune to do each and every one of them. So if you are looking for a meaty fair which is closer than Germany, check out the Foire Du Trone! We left for our hotel extremely knackered, but feeling very happy.

Jardin d’ Acclimatation – Sunday 8th May

After a much needed lay in, we headed off to our final stop before home, Le Jardin d’ Acclimatation, a small pleasant Parisian family amusement park. The whole place is very picturesque with greenery everywhere, even hanging off the rides! The three coasters were:

Dragon – a Soquet family coaster

Papillons d'Alice – a Reverchon Junior spinning coaster

Tacot Express – a powered Soquet coaster which features two pops of airtime! This ride proves that coasters don’t have to be big to be fun!

We also got to try the Chair - o - planes (wave swinger) in reverse, which was interesting to say the least. We didn’t get our French quite right the first time when we asked the ride op for a reverse ride. Luckily he understood our request the second time around!

Then it was time to get back on the Euro Star back to London via a double decker train on the Paris Underground! We got back into London at about 16:30.

Heres a few of my favourite photos from the weekend.